Predicaments
by MagicCatnip
Summary: SEQUEL to "Before I Die"! Jean and Tumen join Jack and Arabella's crew, and the four friends fall into deep trouble concerning Constance, a jar of Catnip, the Trident of Neptune, and Jack's life...
1. Mexico

**Wow, I actually figured out a plot for the sequel to _Before I Die_! Enjoy this sequel! **

**---This was inspired by the songs "Dead" by My Chemical Romance, "Bang the Doldrums" by Fall Out Boy, "Storm" by Lifehouse, and "Rush" by Aly and AJ. All pretty good songs.---**

**Disclaimer: I din't own POTC or any of the characters, but I own your mind! Now... Go and press that little review button... sometimes my mind contol doesn't work. :/**

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Jack, standing on the deck of his boat, smiled as he recognized a Mayan village on the coastline. After all the problems he had gone through- the Royal Navy chasing him, an accidental murder, and escaping a hanging- he was relieved to go somewhere relaxing- and to see some old friends. 

"Is that it?" asked Arabella, his loyal first mate.

"Yep!"

"Why are we going there, anyway?"

"Visit Jean and Tumen. Plus, maybe I could ask them if we could stay a few days. Or I could get them to come with us!"

"And Constance?"

"I'll pretend she doesn't exist."

Arabella laughed.

Soon the old fishing boat,_ Barnacle II_, sailed nearer and nearer to the coast until Jack could recognise the people on the shore. Some men were fishing near a pile of rocks, giving Jack's boat stares. A running girl stopped in the sand, pointing at Jack and screaming something excitedly in her native language. Two boys ran out of a hut towards the young girl.

Jack lowered the anchor, securing the boat in the water. He jumped off the railing and landed in the waist-high water. Arabella followed and they ran towards the shore.

One of the boys, the one with curly reddish-brown hair who looked nothing like a native to the village, waved at Jack and Arabella when they reached the sand. "_Bonjour_!" he yelled.

"Jean! Tumen!" Arabella nearly tripped on her dress running over to the boys. She hugged them.

"Hullo," greeted Jack casually.

Tumen hugged Jack as hard as he could possibly manage. "Uh, mate, I can't breathe!" Jack wheezed.

"Sorry," Tumen stepped back. "What brings you here, captain?"

Being called 'captain' by someone he hadn't seen in a long time made Jack feel important. "Ah, you know, vacay. Vacation. A break." Jack said, then added under his breath, "A _much-needed _break."

Jean smiled. "You're in luck, _mon ami_. Tonight we're having a big party because it's Mam's birthday!"

"You mean that old geezer's still alive!?" Jack exclaimed.

Arabella whacked him in the ribs quickly. She looked at the sky to avoid attention. The sun was lowering and shadows had grown longer. It was probally around five or six o'clock. She asked, "When does the party start?"

"The party won't start until late," responded Tumen.

Suddenly Jack became very aware of his empty stomach. "Where's the food!?" He asked impatiently.

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Not too long after, the group sat on logs, eating tortillas- except for Jack, who was literally shoving them down his throat.

As soon as Jack swallowed his food, Jean asked him, "What's the news?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but he heard a meow behind him. He turned around to find Constance, Jean's mangy cat sister. Constance hissed in Jack's face, spitting on him.

Jack cursed and turned back to Jean. "I see your sister's still as vile as before. But anyway, I have craploads to tell you. First-" Jack continued on about Davy Jones, the Timekeeper, Stone-eyed Sam, the Saber-toothed Cats (Jack lied that Constance was more terrifying than those) and of Fitzwilliam's mutiny. "And then, I ran into the Fluer, convinced Arabella to come with me and we headed for Tourtuga. There, Arabella stupidly decided to go to a ball and dance with Fitz (that back-stabbing traitor was going to marry her so he could work with his dear daddy) instead of leaving with me. So, what'd I do? I marched right up to the ball and took Arabella away! She apologized, but the next day I was about to get out a fish to eat for breakfast and Fitz popped out of the barrel! We started swordfighting and, as unbelievable as this sounds, I uh- accedentally- stabbed him. Total mistake. I mean, he was a traitor and all, but I didn't mean to kiill him! Then we were discovered by the Royal Navy and we almost died at a hanging in Port Royal. Right as the ugly guard reached for the lever, I told him to stop, and it worked because of the magic ring I have! Then we got away and now we're here." Jack finished the story.

"So Fitzwilliam is dead?" Tumen asked.

"Yeah," Arabella replied sadly.

There was a moment of silence. Jack broke it by clapping his hands together buisness-like. "Okay!" he said, "Now who wants to go with us on the _Barnacle II_?"


	2. Constance's Transformation

**Hope you like this! I'm overly busy, so another chapter might not come up soon.**

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The next morning, the captain and first mate of the _Barnacle II _stood on the Mexican beach, waiting for thier firends. Jean rushed down the hill from the villiage, and after Tumen was done saying goodbye to his family, he followed. "We'll be back soon!" he yelled back at his family.

_Not so sure about that_, Jack thought to himself. "Ok, let's go!" He said, spinning around on his heels to face the ocean.

Jean hesitated. "What about Constance?"

Then Constance ran to Jean's side from out of nowhere, something hanging limp in her jaws. jean knelt down to pat her head. Constance dropped the thing in her mouth on the ground.

Tumen let out a strangled scream and pointed to Constance's catch with a shaky finger.

"What? What is it?" Jack furrowed his brow. This was wierd.

"It's a black-spotted gecko." Tumen stammered.

"So? It's just a lizard." Jack replied.

"It's bad luck to see one of these, nevermind kill it!"

Jean stood back up. "Constance didn't know," said he in defense of his sister.

Jack rolled his eyes.at the bickering crowd. He whined, "Can we just get out of here?"

Tumen sighed, "Well, hopefully we'll be okay."

Jack proceeded to lead the crew through the water to the _Barnacle II _and they clambered over the railing. Jack noticed Jean survey the deck, giving a blood-stained area a strange look. 'Uh, why is there dried blood?" he cocked an eyebrow suspiciously.

Arabella replied as she pulled the anchor up to the boat. "Fitz. People bleed more than ye expect." Something tugged at her heart when she spoke about Fitzwilliam. She missed him so much; she guessed she was only now coming out of shock. But she knew she shouldn't miss him as much as she did, becuase he was a betrayer all the way to the end. He tried to kill Jack, too.

Arabella's thoughts lurched back into the present as Jack yelled out commands to the crew.

"_Oui_, what's this?" Jean questioned, walking up the stairs, holding a small, dirty jar of something.

Jack pryed the jar away from Jean and appeared to inspect it. "Catnip. That Tia Dalma woman gave it to me. She said it would 'undo the things that have been done' or something like that. I have no bloody idea how it got here, because it was on the _Barnacle_- which sank with everything on it."

Jean took the jar of catnip back with a wide smile slapped across his face. "You are stupid, _mon captaine_. If I gave this to Constance, she'd be human again!"

Jack tried to look like he knew that. "I knew that."

Jean laughed and yelled for Constance. The gray feline ran to her brother, stopping to hiss at Jack. Jack hissed back. Jean tore the top off the catnip and dumped it eagerly in front of the cat. Constance sniffed the herb. She laid down on it and started to roll and rub her face on the catnip.

"Your sister's drunk on catnip," said Jack. Jean just scoffed.

Something remarkable happened. Constance began to glow white, her mangy hairs standing straight up. The crew back away cautiously. A flash of light forced Jack to shut his eyes. As soon as the flash ended he opened his eyes again and gasped. In front of him stood one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen- she had red hair with a tint of blonde, and her eyes were blue-gray like the sea. She looked about Jack's age.

"My sister!" Jean exclaimed, hugging her. Jack looked away in disgust. How could a vile, mangy cat turn into a beautiful girl such as this? Constance gave Jack a rude look. "I still hate you," she warned. Her clear voice rang like bells, much unlike the coarse meow of her cat form.

Jack replied simply in a hiss.

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"Where are we going?" Tumen asked Jack at the helm. Jean and Constance were with him, also wanting the answer. It had only been a few hours since they left the Yucatan, but they didn't even know where they were going.

"I dunno. Treasure?"

"Like...?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Howabout the Goblet of Cortes?"

"Nothing with Cortes. We know that," Tumen replied with a shudder.

"Yeah.. Or maybe the 882 Aztec Gold medallions?"

"Cursed?"

"Yep."

"Ok, nothing cursed, Jack!" Jean spat.

"Oh! I know!" Jack waved his hand in the air, "The Trident of Neptune! Not cursed, not Cortes-related!"

"Where is it?" questioned Constance.

It took a moment for Jack to answer; he still wasn't used to Constance being able to talk. "Posiedon's Peak. I knw exactly where that is."

Tumen nodded. "Posiedon's Peak it is."


	3. Arabella Blows Up

**Chapter 3! Sorry it's so short, but basically this chapter is in-between two really important chapters, so I don't want to hhave to fit it in with either two.**

**Review and you get a free invisible pickled fish!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any of the characters. **

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The next day...

"_Oui_, Land!" Jean yelled at the top of his lungs, leaning over the railing of the _Barnacle II _and pointing. Jack, at the wheel, responded back, "Get in the skiff. We can't sail up to the beach because there's monster waves farther in."

Tumen ran to the side of the boat, untying the little rowboat called a skiff. As soon as he got it in the water he motioned for everyone to get in. Arabella walked over to it, stopping to give Jack a strange look. "Well, go on!" He prompted, waving his hands. Arabella hesitated, then stepped unto the skiff. Jack let Jean and Constance follow after her before he got in. As Constance walked by, Jack couldn't help but stare. Arabella noticed this and fake-coughed loudly to snap him out of it.

Then, after dropping the boat's anchor, Jack stepped in and nodded at Jean and Tumen to start rowing.

Everyone was quiet, as if something bad was going to happen. Jack smiled to try to get rid of the unease. It didn't work.

"So," Arabella said, fixing a cold stare on Jack, "_Why_ are we going to some random island?"

"This is not at all random island, luv. This is Poseidon's Peak, where the legendary Trident of Neptune is!" Jack said.

"We're going after treasure, then." Arabella sounded a little angry this time.

"Yep!"

"Jack, you know what happens when you wanted treasure last time!"

"This isn't supposed to be cursed in any way."

"_Supposed_ to," she sneered. "Jack, _pirates_ go after treasure! I thought you didn't want to be a pirate?" Arabella added the last sentence sarcastically.

Jack clenched his teeth. "Look, I'm _not_ a pirate! Does it hurt to go a little treasure hunting?!"

"You never told me we were going to find some stupid treasure!" This time it was obvious she was angry.

"Well, I forgot!"

"As I said before, last time we searched for treasure you almost _died_!" There was a silence after that. Jack and Arabella gave eachother stares cold enough to freeze hell over

Jean and Tumen stopped rowing and glanced behind thier backs towards the island. "We have to jump off here," Tumen said, "big waves."

Constance groaned, but Arabella swiftly jumped off the boat. Jack snickered. He said, "For being one not wanting to get on the island, she was in a hurry."

Suddenly Arabella appeared out of the water, tugging one side of the skiff into the water. Jean, Constance, and Tumen jumped out in time, but Jack was too slow. Before he knew it, Arabella had flipped the skiff upside-down.

Jack opened his eyes, shaking his hair out of his face. As it turned oiut, he was under the skiff, in a little air pocket underwater. Arabella was under the skiff, too, still giving him that creepy stare.

"What?" Jack asked innocently.

Arabella slapped him. "I _hate_ you, Jack Sparrow!" She spat.

"I wouldn't want it any other way."


	4. Falling

**Whew! Here's Chapter 4! Hope ya like. :)**

**Reviews make the world go round!**

"Jack, we've been walking around for hours!" Jean prtoested as the crew walked in the think jungle of the island. "Now what?" he asked.

Jack, who was leading the group, sighed and stopped. He looked back at his crew. "We can rest," He told them. Jack himself decided to sit on a short little stone wall, one of the many strange ruins they've seen since arriving on the island.

Suddenly Jack felt the ground dissapear beneath him. He screamed. Next thing he knew he was in a cave, with the hole through which he fell above his head. The crew ran to the hole and cautiously looked over the side.

"You Okay?" Tumen yelled.

Jack nodded, still trying to catch his breath. He glanced around the cave and noticed it wasn't just any old cave. it was man-made. There was even an ancient-looking painting on the wall that looked like water. Jack smiled and motioned for his crew to come into the cave.

Arabella answered, "Are ye crazy?!" But before Jack could reply Tumen pushed her in the hole. Then he, Jean, and Constance followed.

"Where are we?" Asked Jean.

Jack replied, "I really don't know, but it could help us get to the trident." He pointed to the picture of the water. Arabella walked up to it, pretending to study it. "There's nothing special about it," she said, turning back to Jack. "Thanks for leading us into a hole we can't get out of!" She spat in his face.

"I bet we can get out somehow," Jack said. Arabella put her hand on the picture, and to her surprise, it gave in. Jack opened his mouth to say something, but then the crew fell into a trap door!

When the dust settled, Arabella stood up. She staggered backwarks when she opened her eyes; everything was unnaturraly a pearly blue-white color. They were in a large room that seemed to be made of marble. The rest of the crew had fallen on some steps and tumbled downward. They too stood up, trying to recover from the long fall.

The first thing Jack did was march up to Arabella. "I saw that! You led us into a trap!" he pointed a finger at her.

"Ye led us into that first hole!" Arabella yelled.

"Yeah? Well you don't have to be so angry at me!" Jack yelled back.

"Well, ye're the one who never told me we were going to look for treasure!"

"Look, it's not going to kill me! Just relax for a second! Savvy?"

A noise, like a low, deep chuckle or something filled the room. Arabella noticed Jack's and everyone else's eyes grow wide, looking at something behind her. Slowly, she turned around to face the one person she'd never even thought of seeing.

He was gigantic, at least eight feet, and he had a long white beard and old, almost alge-covered looking clothes. He held a trident in one hand.

"Neptune," Jack whispered. Thinking quickly, he bowed, motioning for the crew to follow.

"Why have you come?" Neptune bellowed, his voice deep and raspy.

"Uh..." Jack started, eyeing the trident in Neptune's hand. _The_ trident.

Arabella blurted out, "He wants that trident of yours!"

Neptune laughed again. "You can have my trident, _if_ you can pass the test," He bent down to Jack's eye level and added the last part of the sentence with a sinister hint in his voice.

Jack didn't even stop to think about it. He smiled. "How hard can it be? Sure, I'm up for it."

Neptune stood back up and motioned for the rest of the crew to step back. Then he pointed the trident at Jack.

Jack laughed. "What are you going to do, send me over to Isla Sirena to duke it out with the sirens' Iguana beasties? FYI, I've already done that."

A wide, vile grin swept across the sea god's face. He tightened his grip of the trident, and lifted it up slowly. Jack started to rise up in the air, apparently because of the trident. Eventually Jack was at least twenty feet in the air.

"Oh, so you're gonna float me to death! Brilliant!" Jack said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Neptune tightened his grip of the trident again, twisting his wrist slightly.

"Ow!" Jack exclaimed, rubbing his arm.

Neptune clenched the trident more every second. Jack writhed and screamed in pain. Neptune's knuckles turned white, and Jack felt like he was being suffocated and stabbed. He let out a bloodcurling scream that made the crew jump.

Arabella bit her lip. Was this it? She didn't know what to do. She felt sorry for Jack, but she was also still angry at him. She was stuck.

Neptune clenched the trident until it looked like it was about to break in his hands. Suddenly he loosened his grip of the trident in pointed it at the ground.

Jack fell to the marble floor with a sickening thud. Arabella gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Jack?" Jean asked. There was no reply.

Neptune laughed much louder than before, and, as quickly as he came, he dissapeared.

Arabella ran up to Jack and knelt next to him. He didn't seem to be breathing. Arabella chocked back tears as she brushed his hair out of his closed eyes.

_No_, she thought, _he's dead._


	5. Captain's Log

**Short, yes. The end, no.**

**Please review! ;)**

The next day, Arabella stood at the railing of the _Barnacle , _overlooking the gray fog. Ever since they left the island, it had been like this. The weather wasn't helping her mood, either. Everything was so dark and gloomy. Ever since Jack died...

"You okay, mon ami?" Jean asked as he walked up to her.

Arabella answered, but her eyes remained fixed on the ocean. "It's just..." she sighed. "Jack..."

"We've all missed him," Jean said.

"It's all my fault. I got angry at him, and next thing you know... And I never had the chance to say goodbye. And it's not the same from when Fitz died. I saw that coming, because I knew when they started fighting it'd be the end of one of them. And..." She trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes.

"And?"

"And now Jack's gone, too. I mean, I could've tried to stop him, but I didn't. And I should've. And..." Arabella sighed again. "I _loved_ him."

Jean paused. He wasn't quite sure what to do. He put his arm around Arabella's shoulders. "it's not that bad!" He tried to sound cheerful. "We're going to Tia Dalma's- maybe she can help."

"_Maybe_," Arabella replied sullenly, moving Jean's arm away from her.

"What?" Jean asked, puzzled.

"Jack used to do that."

"Ah."

There were some moments of silence until Arabella announced, "I'm going belowdecks." Jean watched her leave, then looked at Tumen, shrugging. "I did my best," he said.

--

Arabella swiftly flew down the steps down into the lower part of the boat. She purposefully avoided the area where everyone slept- Jack's body was laying in his old hammock. Instead she walked to one corner where Jack kept his belongings. There was this one box that Jack told her never to open...

... But now she was curious.

Slowly she lifted up the lid of the plain, small box. Inside was a little book thatwas titled _Captain's Log _on the front. Whay would Jack want her to stay away from his Captain's log? Maybe it wasn't really a captain's log, but more like a journal.

Arabella's eyes widened in excitement. She grabbed the book, shut the lid, and started to read.


	6. Hope and A Little Anger

**FINAL CHAPTER!! WHOOO! Ok, not very long, but who cares? Sorry, but there won't be a sequel to this one. :(**

**Characters and places belong to Disney.**

**Please review!**

A few days later, Arabella opened the door to Tia Dalma's old shack. jean and Tumen followed, carrying Jack. Constance trailed behind.

Tia Dalma, a tall figure with crazy dreadlocked hair wearing a dress that looked too small, looked up and smiled. As soon as she saw Jack, she frowned. "Wha' have we 'ere?" She asked in her strange accent.

"It's Jack... We think he's..." Arabella trailed off. Tia motioned to her table in the middle of the shack. Tumen and Jean set Jack down on it, clearing little trinkets of crazy things out of the way.

Tia put a hand on Jack's neck to feel for a pulse. "Him not dead," she said.

Hope welled up inside Arabella.

"So... It's like a coma?" Jean asked. Tia nodded.

Constance, hiding in a corner, added, "People can die when they're in a coma, ya know." Tia shot her a hard look.

"Is there any way ye can bring him back?" asked Arabella.

Tia grabbed a jar of crab claws, took out a few, and shook them like dice as she chanted in an ancient language. She released them unto the floor. After staring at them, she looked up and answered, "Him should wake up now."

All eyes were on Jack. He was breathing now, but only barely." Jack?" Arabella asked.

Jack's eyes opened. He blinked. He blinked again. His eyes closed and his breathing slowed almost to a stop.

Arabella felt like she was made out of lead. This was terrible. Would it work? "Jack?" she repeated.

No answer.

Arabella looked at Tia for an answer. Tia made one of those fake coughing sounds.

"Oh, no, are ye serious?" She groaned. It was like that witch could read her mind! Tia nodded. Arabella sighed. She bent over and kissed Jack. When she stepped back to join the crew she saw a wierd look on thier faces. She shrugged. "Maybe- Maybe it'll work."

Everyone waited in silence.

Suddenly, Jack's breathed quickened and his eyes shot open. He screamed and rolled right off the table. He got up and nearly collided with a jar of snake skins above his head. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?" He yelled.

Immediately Arabella ran to him and hugged him.

"Now," Jack said, "I'm really confused. Are you still angry?" He asked. Arabella shook her head as she stepped back.

Tia interuppted, "You know I demand payment." She pointed to Constance. "That will do."

_"You can't take my sister!" _Jean yelled. Tia rolled her eyes and grabbed Constance by the arm.

Constance hissed at her. Soon that hiss bacame a real cat's hiss and she became smaller and furrier. Constance was back in her form of a mangy cat.

Constance ran to jean and leapt up into his arms, purring. Jean gave Tia an angry glare before he and the rest of the crew walked out the door.

As Arabella went down the steps, something fell out of her pocket. Jack picked it up. It looked familiar. When the morning light fell on it, he recognized it- his captian's log!

"YOU!" Jack pointed to Arabella. "You read this!?"

'She read all of it, in one night!" Tumen said with a grin. Jack groaned.

--

Back on the ship, Jack walked over to his crew. "Hey, can we go back and get that trident?"

"NO!!"


End file.
